Conventional Endodontic Treatment

For both cleaning and shaping and obturation techniques, there are many ways to perform these techniques. The most basic technique is described below but readers are encouraged to seek other technique advice from textbooks and literature.

After proper diagnosis and profound local anesthesia, a dentist can then proceed with clinical conventional endodontic treatment in performing a pulpectomy (the complete removal of the pulp tissue) while using a rubber dam to isolate the treatment tooth. For a pulpectomy, chemomechanical preparation of the entire root-canal system should be performed. This type of chemomechanical canal preparation involves using endodontic files, sodium hypochlorite, and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) gel placement on each file (Figure 8). Also, if the dentist is not doing a single-visit treatment, calcium hydroxide may be placed in the canal(s) before temporizing the tooth.¹⁶ 

Figure 8.

Figure 8.

The placing of an EDTA gel on an endodontic file before placement in a canal.